Bruises
by kajides
Summary: "It had been a while since the Corporal felt like this, at ease. Spending some time with what seem to be an enjoyable company, eating, not asking personal questions nor complaining about life in general. During these times, this was Heaven." A SashaxLevi fanfic.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin**

**Bruises**

**Chapter 1**

Sasha grabbed her stomach and swallowed hard. She looked around, her fellow cadets seemed as nervous and scared as her. They kept glancing everywhere, they were on the top of a house so it'd be easy to spot a titan.

Titans; Sasha loathed them, they hadn't killed any member of her family, still she loathed them because of all they had caused: deaths, orphans, lack of food.

"They're coming" A short cadet cried "We're going to die" The tears started to stream down her face.

Sasha spotted the titan easily, an extremely stupid looking 7 meters one. She thought about it. No, she was not going to die, not after all her training and effort. _You ranked 9 out of the top ten, you can do this Sasha, you will survive_. She thought.

"Okay, don't panic right away" The leader of the group-a sweet looking man, probably in his forties- told them "Wait until they get to us"

"Sasha, you're good at his, aren't you?" The teary eyed girl asked her.

"Um, yeah" Sasha wasn't meaning to brag. The short girl started to sob.

"Would you please help me?" She seemed desperate. Sasha didn't really know what to answer at first. Sure, she wasn't selfish but she found the cadet's request a bit overwhelming.

"S-sure" Sasha smiled timidly, the short girl's eyes shined.

Sasha looked around again. Now there wasn't only one titan, there were dozens of them. The momentary feeling of proud that she felt when asked to protect someone disappeared and was replaced with a feeling of fear.

They were coming closer. Sasha sighed, she was ready for this. She closed her eyes, this would calm her. They opened when he heard a girly scream. There was a titan standing in front of them. The titan raised it's hand, ready to slam and grab a human. She didn't take long to react, she fired her grapple hooks to the house in front of her and flew to it. Most of her squad was able to escape the titan, but she saw how the titan ate a young cadet. She saw the eyes of the cadet, full of tears. He was screaming, agony screams.

She frowned, she wasn't going to stand and not do anything, she had to kill the titan. Without thinking it twice, Sasha fired her grapple hooks again, this time in the titan's back. _You can do this Sasha_. She thought while she was on the air. Taking out her blades she shouted, then they slashed the back of the titan's neck, it fell immediately. A shout of joy escaped from her mouth, she had just killed her first titan.

For a moment she felt like she could spit fire, but this disappeared when more titans were coming closer to them. Turning around, she realized that some of her squad were gone; this scared her a little. The short girl was right behind her, for now.

She quickly flew away from one titan punch, that ended up killing a man. If she killed more titans it would comfort her but with so many around, it became extremely dangerous to move around one. And this was proved when one of his squad members got eaten while trying to get to another roof.

A 5 meters titan was going to be her next target. She waited until only few titans were around him. Now, do it now. She jumped, took out her blades and slashed the titan.

"Crap!" She shouted, she hadn't cut deep enough to kill it. The short girl followed all her moves, without attacking of course. This made Sasha a bit angry. Why wasn't the girl fighting? Why wasn't she doing something while others were dying?

She tripped over something in the roof and fell down, her nose hitting the roof hard.

"Sasha" The short girl cried "Are you alright?" _You ask me now if I'm alright._

"Yeah, whatever" She replied somewhat annoyed "We better move"

Just when they spotted a place to move, A titan appeared in front of them. Sasha read it's moves right away, but the other girl didn't, thus the titan grabbed her with its enormous hands like she were a doll. The girl started to shout desperately.

"Sasha! Help me!" But Sasha couldn't move, she was too horrified to do it. Blood splashed her face when the titan ate the short girl. Move, move Sasha or else you'll die. But her body didn't answer her.

Closing her eyes, she prepared to die. Nevertheless, a heavy sound made her open them. The titan was lying death on the floor. Still, she couldn't calm down, she felt the presence of other titan behind her. Then she felt how someone grabbed her from her waist and flew away with her.

She raised her head to see who had saved her. Because she had indeed just been saved. Her mouth opened when she saw who was carrying her. It was no other but Lance Corporal Levi.

"No way" She didn't mean to say these words out loud. He did something that seemed like a smirk. They landed on another roof.

"Why?!" It was the first thing Sasha said when they landed.

"You should thank first" He said coldly. Sasha blushed.

"Thanks, Corporal" She said shyly.

"That's better"

"Why?" She started "Why did you do that?

"You preferred to die?" He frowned.

"No!" She shouted "It's just that, well, I'm just a simple cadet, who I'm sure you don't even who is"

"So?" He stared at her " Does that mean your life is worth less that someone else's?" This made Sasha blush again.

"No" She looked down "I'm Sasha, Sasha Braus"

"Well, Braus, I have to go"


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin**

**Bruises**

**Chapter 2**

This was an extremely weird occasion, for the very first time Sasha couldn't eat something. Even though it had been one of the toughest days in her life, she couldn't keep something in her mouth. She was hungry; starving. But whenever she put a piece of meat, her mouth wouldn't keep it, she had to spit it. Since she couldn't eat anything, she just started to poke it.

It wasn't her fault. It had been one of the worst days ever. Now they were hiding in a small house where they have found some food. There were no more than 25 people. Although there was food, some of her friends and a safe place, this didn't comfort Sasha at all. The small whimpers of some people made her remember how her team had been eaten.

"You won't eat that?" Connie asked with surprised eyes. She shook her face.

"I just can't eat" She shrugged.

"I get you" Connie nodded.

Thinking that there was something better than just to poke her food, Sasha stood up. Deciding to take a walk out.

"Do you want it?" She asked Connie.

"Where are you going?" He asked while nodding.

"I don't know" She sighed "Take a walk outside"

"All by yourself?!" His jaw dropped.

"Yep" She smiled "I mean, titans don't really attack at night" She laughed without knowing why.

"I think I'll take this with me" She grabbed the piece of bread. Connie just chuckled.

Sasha put on her jacket again, yawned and headed to the exit. She opened the old wooden door and stepped cold air made her shiver. She started to rub her hands, trying to warm them up.

There was a rather sinister feeling outside even though it was quiet. She had always liked to be outside, either hunting animals or just playing around, it made all of her childish problems disappear . Yet, being outside on this particular night, didn't make her feel any better. Seeing all the destroyed buildings, all the bodies lying on the floor, made her remember perfectly all she had seen this day.

She kept walking, lost in her thoughts. Not knowing, nor caring where to go. She snapped out of her thoughts when her stomach growled, reminding her of how hungry she was.

Grateful that she had brought her slice of bread with her, she sat down on a wooden box. She gave it a small bite, feeling an immense joy by the taste of the bread; it felt so good to eat something. She was about to bite it a second time, but stopped when she heard a noise.

Titans? At night? That's impossible. She thought. She started to look everywhere, trying to find where the noise came from. Then, there was the same sound, the sound of something heavy falling down.

"Is there someone out there?" She asked. No one answered.

Looking up at a roof she saw something that seemed like a person. She decided to ignore it until she saw the person taking out a full loaf of bread. Without second thoughts Sash climbed up where that person was.

Before she could say anything, the other person spoke.

"What are you doing here?" She had heard that voice before, that cold voice. Sasha cursed when she figured out who that person was.

"Corporal" She giggled nervously.

"What are you laughing about?" He said quite harshly.

"Well you know" She bit her bottom lip" I surely wasn't expecting to find you here"

"I see" He lit up a lamp

"Corporal" Sasha started "I just wanted to thank you, for today. I'm really grateful" The Corporal didn't say anything, he just stared at her, making her feel uncomfortable. Then he just nodded.

He started to eat his bread. Not talking, just staring at the sky. Sasha, being extremely starving, swallowed before asking the corporal for some.

"Can I have some?" She smiled weakly. At first he didn't say anything, and pierced her with his look.

"Sure" He cut it in half and handed one to her.

"Thanks" She smiled. She doubted about leaving. Should she go and leave the Corporal alone or join him. Making up her mind she sat next to him.

"Do you mind if I sit here?"

"Not really"

They didn't say anything at first. They were staring at nowhere, occasionally turning heads to see the other; they just didn't know what to say.

"So..." Sasha said, trying to start a conversation.

"You ranked 9" She couldn't avoid feeling surprised by this. How did he know she had ranked 9? How?!

"H-how do you know?" Levi gave a small laugh.

"I always get informed of the top 10" He rolled his eyes "Don't get too excited" Sasha couldn't avoid laughing as hard as she could, making the corporal laugh quietly.

"You wish" She laughed again, stopping only when realizing what she had said "No, I didn't mean that. I-I, never mind" He have a small, innocent laugh.

It had been a while since the Corporal felt like this, at ease. Spending some time with what seem to be an enjoyable company, eating, not asking personal questions nor complaining about life in general. During these times, this was Heaven.

"How do you feel?" He asked "I mean your first time with titans" When he finished saying this Sasha's eyes darkened, making him regret what he had said. The sudden feel of joy and warmth was replaced by a gloomy one.

"Well" She bit her bottom lip "I-I don't know" She hugged her knees and rested her head on them. She didn't want to talk about it, she didn't want to complain about it, not with the Corporal. Not with the man who dealt with titans every single day of his life, who risked his life, who had humanity in his hands.

"I loath them" Her fists clenched and she stood up fast, like of something had pulled her up; anger. Her eyes started to get watery and without thinking things twice, she kicked hard the small wooden box in which the corporal was seated.

The kick made a loud but the Corporal barely made an expression of surprise, instead he just stood up calmly.

"You can keep going" He said, almost ordering her.

She did so. She kept kicking the wooden box hard while saying how much she hated titans, stoping only when the box was broken.

Her breathing was heavy and she was trying hard not to cry. She didn't want to do it in front of the Corporal. She turned around and faced him, for a moment she wished he could show some kind of emotion, but he didn't, he had that numb face.

Without being able to keep it any longer Sasha threw herself into the Corporal's arms and hugged him tightly. At first the Corporal just stood there, arms down. But when he felt Sasha so close to him, so vulnerable, he hugged her back just as tightly as she was hugging him. Sasha started to cry very quietly and softly, without losing control. At this Levi started to stroke her hair with one of his hands.

"It's okay" He said with a voice full of tenderness "It's okay to feel upset sometimes"


	3. Chapter 3

**I do not own Shingeki no kyojin**

**Bruises.**

**Chapter 3**

The little rays of sunlight coming from a window woke Sasha up, she opened her eyes slowly, having a hard time waking up. She had slept yet she was tired, it felt like she had only slept for a few minutes. Yawning she put on her boots, she stretched and tried to brush her bangs with her fingers.

"So you're finally up" She heard Ymir's harsh voice.

"Yeah" Sasha walked closer to Ymir "Is it too late?" She asked a bit concerned.

"Well, depending" Ymir smirked.

"Depending on..." Sasha frowned.

"Depending on if you care about on Eren or not" Sasha frowned even more.

"Huh?" She wasn't understanding the situation pretty well "I mean, I do care about him"

As she finished saying these words she felt shivers in her back, something bad had happened, really bad and she was clueless about it because she had overslept. If she had only returned to the building earlier last night.

"What happened?!" She put her hands on Ymir's shoulders, the freckled girl just glared at her.

"Not much you know, just that Eren will be put on trial"

"What?! Why?!" She shouted these questions without really meaning to.

"Well, they think that he might be an enemy of mankind and all that shit" Ymir said with the most boring face she could make.

"But" Sasha's arms crossed "I mean, he helped us, he's clearly not an enemy"

"Yeah yeah" Ymir interrupted her "I don't want to chat with you about that. I wanted to ask you something"

Sasha tried not to be prejudicial when it came to relating with people, she tried to accept them as they were and understand them, one could never know what they had been trough. But when it came to Ymir, she just couldn't avoid to think that there was something sinister about her, therefore she felt a bit alarmed because of the question Ymir hadn't made yet.

"Why did you return so late last night?"

"Huh?" Sasha thought about the question. Last night, last night, last night! "Well, last night, I had a little chitchat with someone"

"I know you had a chitchat, I just want to know who did you lose yourself with?" Ymir chuckled.

"What do you mean?" Sasha blushed.

She started to feel embarrassed just by remembering what had happened last night. If it had been someone else maybe she wouldn't feel this way but she had cried in front of Lance Corporal Levi, she had shown weakness in front of the most powerful soldier.

"Never mind" Ymir rolled her eyes "I was just bugging you, not that I care about what you did. By the way, you didn't oversleep, we're leaving right now to catch up with Eren" Sasha felt relieved when she heard this.

"O-okay" She nodded rapidly "Hey, did you already eat breakfast?" She smirked a little.

"Yes. Christa saved you some food" Ymir walked to the door and opened it.

"How nice" Her smirk widened.

"Hurry up" Ymir shouted.

"Right" She hurried to the door.

"Thanks, Christa" Sasha said with her mouth full of bread "You're so nice"

"You're welcome" Christa smiled "I knew you'd be hungry" The both laughed.

"Will this be ending soon?" Jean asked out loud "We've been standing in here for hours"

"It hasn't been that much" Reiner replied.

"I just want it to be over soon" Jean passed his hand trough his hair.

"Me too" Connie took off his jacket "It's so hot"

"So, who's in here" Sasha asked.

"Well, you know, military police, some members of the wall cult and the scouting legion" Jean answered her.

"Really? Why so many people?"

"Well they're trying to decide Eren's fate..."

The scouting legion...could the corporal be there? He had to be there, he was important. What of she casually ran into him? Just to say good morning, it wouldn't do any harm to anyone.

Without really thinking about it, she started to brush the crumbs of bread off her uniform. She re-made her ponytail and brushed her bangs once again with her fingers.

"Are you even paying attention?" Ymir snapped her fingers in front of her face.

"Yes" Sasha snapped out of her thoughts "You're right, Jean, it's taking too long"

"I know" He sighed.

The gates of the building opened, Sasha stood up from the floor immediately and started to see all the people that were coming out. She waited patiently, watching all the people, some were tired rather angry, but no sign of the people she wanted to they spotted Armin, they walked towards him.

"What's going on? Where's Mikasa and Eren?" Jean asked.

"What will happen to Eren?" Reiner asked.

"It's okay, the scouting legion will take care of him" Everyone felt relieved when they heard "Though, the corporal beated the crap out of him" Ymir laughed silently making Christa hit her with her elbow to shut her up.

"Where are they?" Jean asked again.

"Inside" Armin replied.

"Can we go in and see them" Sasha asked.

"I guess" Armin shrugged "Come"

They all followed Armin into a hallway, there was Eren and Mikasa, her looking pissed as ever before.

"Hey, if the corporal beated you, then why are you looking so good? No bruise left" Everyone sighed.

"Because he's a bloody titan, you moron" Ymir laughed.

"I'm fine, thanks" Eren said smiling.

"Yeah, I sort of missed it" She made a grimace.

"So, what happened?" Jean asked.

"Basically, the scouting legion has to take control over me, but I really don't mind"

"Good thing" Sasha said, she turned around and spotted the corporal, he was leaning on a wall. She got away from where they were talking without getting noticed and walked towards the Corporal.

"Good morning" She said smiling.

"Morning" He said just that;coldly and started to walk away.

Sasha felt like she had just been slapped in the face and had the word loser written all over her face. She had expected him to ask her how she was, to act him like his not normal self. Disappointment, that was the word she was looking for, she was disappointed at herself, she had been a fool for crying in the Corporal's arms.

Anger, that was the other word that was accurate for the moment. Anger, she had left that someone saw as something she wasn't, she wasn't weak and she was not going to let anyone think she was a cry-baby that couldn't stand anything.

"Don't worry, Sasha" She felt Christa's hand on her shoulder "I'm sure the Corporal isn't someone to bond with easily. Let's go"They walked out and Levi was there again. Sasha swallowed and...

"I'm not a little cry-baby" She shouted at him. Luckily for them, there were only a few people left.

Thanks for reading, and please review.


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own Shingeki no kyojin**

**Bruises**

**Chapter 4**

_"I can do that with no problem" She said with a smug face._

_"No, you can't" Said the muscular boy, with a mocking face._

_"Want to bet?" She asked looking directly at the dark blue eyes of the boy._

_"Bet?" He and other boys surrounding them chortled "It'd be unfair for you"_

_"Afraid to lose?" She smirked._

_Sasha had lost all her temper at the dumb muscular boy. She was hunting some animals, something she enjoyed and was skilled at. The girl was riding her horse, enjoying the forest, losing herself in it. Hunting wasn't exactly what she was doing, she was just fooling around. But when a group of four arrogant rather stupid boys spotted her, she knew that the fun by herself was gone._

_"Of course a girl like you can't beat me" He gave her a small push._

_"Oh, What's that supposed to mean?" She faked a yawn._

_"First, you're a girl" The rest of the boys laughed "Second, someone as simple as you, wouldn't be able to" Sasha felt all the anger build up in her body._

_"If I win" She grabbed the boy's shirt and pulled him down "You'll get me all the food that I want for two weeks"_

_"And if I kill that deer first?" He raised an eyebrow._

_"You get my bow and all of my arrows" She said firmly._

_"Fine then" He pulled off her hold "I need a new bow anyways"_

_"One thing. We can just use one arrow" She added, maybe it was just the anger._

_"I agree" He nodded._

_The both did the same; grabbed their bow and one arrow, they got near the deer and prepared._

_Sasha's hands started to get a bit sweaty, she couldn't lose, she was not going to let it happen. Her whole attention was on the deer, she didn't lose sight of him, turning her head a little she saw that the boy was just as concentrated as she was._

_Taking a deep breath she shoot her arrow, exhaling only when the arrow flew away. The boy shoot at the exact same time._

_It was only a matter of seconds to discover who had killed the deer. The red arrow was right on the deer's eye, Sasha's red arrow._

_Why are you remembering this? Why at this moment? Well, it was a moment where you showed what you're capable of, still, not the time to remember this._

Some people took the whole situation as a joke, others were simply amused, most were confused.

Sasha's hands couldn't have been any more sweaty, she was expecting people to chortle, to ignore it. But that wasn't happening, everyone was staring at them without saying something, just waiting for the corporal's reaction.

He's not going to believe you if you look nervous. So she crossed her arms and held her head high, looking as tough as she could, she was trying to look like a badass. And she achieved it.

"What are you talking about?" His cold gray eyes pierced her, she didn't reply(she really didn't know how to)

"Sasha, let's go" Ymir told her.

"These have been odd days" Sasha said to Connie while they were waiting for everyone else outside the dining room.

"I wouldn't call them odd. Just insane"

"Just?" They laughed.

"Well, they're investigating a titan murder, so yeah" He stretched.

"I find it hard to believe that everything that's happening is real"

"Why?"

"Titans, everything's that's happening, really. I sort of wish it wouldn't be real" She sighed.

"But we decided to become soldiers" He stared at the ground "And don't regret it"

"At all" Sasha completed "Let's go to the dining room, maybe they're already there"

They went to the dining room, chatting about some random stuff. When they arrived only Mikasa was missing. They sat on the large wooden table looking at the annoyed faces of their fellows.

"Well, I know this is annoying" Sasha started "But you don't have to have such long faces" She smiled, and a little smirk formed in Armin's lips.

"It's not just that" Christa said, raising her head to see Sasha "Today we decide our future"

Sasha sighed, she already knew that she was going to join the scouting legion, that was why she became a soldier. But, sometimes she had second thoughts. A reason why she never liked to think much about it. In fact, Sasha never liked to think much about all the things she did. She lived by one rule: If you feel it is right, do it.

"When are we leaving?" She asked while stretching.

"When they finish checking everyone" Jean replied, looking as bored as Sasha had ever seen him before.

"Do you guys want me to bring you some food?" She asked trying to cheer them up.

"And how are you going to get it?" Ymir asked.

"Oh, there's always food somewhere" She said winking.

"If you're going to steal it, then no" Jean stared at her.

"Are you worried I might get in trouble?" She laughed.

"No, that you might get us in trouble" He raised his eyebrows.

"Then let's just wait in here" She shrugged "Getting bored"

"Is being bored one of your main worries? Sasha" Annie asked, not even looking at her.

"No. But I do sometimes like to have a good time" Connie laughed a little "So, how are you guys feeling?" She was just trying to make some conversation, but everyone just gave her a rather hostile look.

"I get it" She nodded.

Everyone stayed quiet until Mikasa came.

"Keith says we're leaving now" She said nothing more.

Although Sasha had been waiting for this moment, she felt more nervous than she expected to be. Every member left of the 104th trainees squad was standing in front of a small platform, waiting to hear the speeches that they were going to give them.

She looked around, she remember that they were more, a lot more. This made her doubt even more about her decision. Did the scouting legion really mean a death ticket? But then again, if she joined the military police she was going to betray the reason why she became a soldier, she was going to live a life that wasn't meant for her.

The murmurs of the cadets stopped when the commander, Erwin Smith, stepped in the platform. Sasha felt immediate respect for him, he looked smart, serious and also caring.

He started to speak. Sasha expected him to say great things about the scouting legion, but, he didn't. He just told the truth. He said that joining the scouting legion wasn't going to be pretty at all.

All kinds of thoughts started to run trough Sasha's head. She was already sure about her decision, but still, when she saw all the cadets leave, leaving only few left, tears couldn't avoid to form in her eyes. She was afraid of titans, but that was not going to stop her.

Lots of cadets were leaving, only few were left standing, very few. Once only the top 10 cadets, and Ymir, were left, Erwin welcomed them to the scouting legion. They saluted and accepted their faith.

They were about to leave the place to get back to where they used to train, when Hanji stopped them with a huge smile on her face.

"Where do you think you're going?" She smiled even more "You must come with us, to your new temporary place" No one moved "Let's go have dinner together, or do something to welcome you"

"Okay!" Sasha was the first one to accept the offer, not that she had a choice.

The place was small and had a weird smell, they would only spend one night there, after all. The new members went to the room where Hanji told them to. Dinner wasn't accurate for what Sasha was seeing; there was a large old table set up with small snacks. Hanji was seated right in the middle of the table. Levi was on the far left corner.

"This was all we could find" Hanji said gesturing the small snacks "C'mon, eat up, we have to wake up early tomorrow" She winked.

No one seemed very excited about the "dinner" but they didn't want to be rude, so they just accepted it. Sasha got distracted by a black cat that entered the room, therefore, wasn't able to chose her seat. Her face went bright red when the only spot left was in front of the corporal.

She avoided to look him in the eyes while she was helping herself some snacks, but she felt his stare at some times. Since she was on the far corner, the food took some time to get to her. Everyone was talking about something, everyone but her, she just couldn't.

Some people started to excuse themselves, but Sasha stayed there. Armin, Mikasa and Eren were in deep conversation with Hanji, so she didn't feel like joining. She was about to excuse herself when the corporal spoke.

"You made a good choice" Sasha finally looked him in the eyes.

"I think so" She replied with a tiny voice.

"The scouting legion is a place for you" This was going better than expected.

"It's nice to have a place where you fit in, isn't it?" She smiled

"It certainly is" He nodded. Since the corporal seemed not to be in a bad mood, Sasha decided to ask him something.

"Why did you pretend you didn't know what I was talking about?" She got prepared for the answer, though, she thought she was not going to get any.

"I didn't think you were a cry-baby, that's all" He said with his cold voice.

"Aww" This came out of Sasha naturally "I'm glad, I really am" Her face lit up.

"Why?" He leaned to get closer to her "Why would you care what I think about you?" She felt quite intimidated.

"Well, y-you know" She stuttered "You're the big deal, aren't you?" She smiled weakly. The corporal just sighed.

"Something that I can tell you is that, don't let what others says about you break you down" Sasha felt that this was getting way too weird. Was the corporal giving her some advice? Why was he saying this to her?

"Okay" She said, with a confused tone.

"I'm serious" He did sound serious.

"I know" She smiled for him.

They stayed quiet for some time, occasionally looking at each other, Sasha smiling timidly, she didn't know how to continue the conversation, or she didn't dare to.

"I wasn't able to eat some snacks, do you mind passing me some?" Sasha couldn't help but laugh, she wasn't expecting this from the corporal.

"Sure" She handed him some cookies.

"Don't you want some?" Sasha blushed and nodded.

"So, you're nice after all"

"So, you always speak what's on your mind"

**Thanks for reading :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Bruises**

**Chapter 5**

**I do not own Shingeki no kyojin.**

They already had spent three hours cleaning the castle and they hadn't finished, it seemed like an endless job. Having to clean every single room in the castle wasn't the worst thing, having the corporal as the cleaning supervisor was.

"Screw you then" Sasha said to the stain in the window rubbing it violently. She sighed, lifting her bangs "Why won't you come off" She pulled her hair as a sign of desperation.

"You can leave it like that" She jerked her head at the sound of woman's the voice "Levi is just using it as pretext to come and check on you" Hanji winked.

"What?" Sasha frowned at Hanji's wicked smile.

"Oh, nothing, nothing" She laughed and left the room.

How weird, Hanji just came to laugh, she surely wasn't expecting that. Why was the corporal coming to check so often? Was she doing such a bad job? Because he had already come like five times. Maybe he was doing that with everyone else.

Sasha continued to rub the stain off lazily, she had already given up, she just didn't want to clean another room. She planned to spend the rest of the time trying to rub off the stain, to show the corporal how committed she was. A quiet laugh escaped from her mouth by just thinking of the plan.

"It won't come off if you don't do it the right way" Her body jerked again at the sound of the corporal's voice.

"I've been trying it" Her eyes widened to show conviction "But it just won't come off" She made a grimace.

"Let me show you" He walked towards the window.

"No, no, it's okay" She waved her hands in a fast, almost aggressive way.

The corporal ignored her, and got near her-way too near in fact- Sasha's stomach jolted when the corporal put his hand over her hand that was holding the brush. She stopped breathing and blushed when he tangled their fingers. This reminded Sasha of one fairy-tail her mother once had told her, the prince did the same to teach the princess how to paint. Yet, she thought, her situation was so different.

Levi started to move his hand in circular way, softly unlike Sasha. The stain started to come off slowly. Sasha could hear the corporal's breathing perfectly, just at the height of her ear.

"See" He interrupted her thoughts "If you do it this way it'll come off"

He kept doing the same for another minute, until the stain came off. When it finally did the corporal patted her shoulder, he even surprised himself for doing that.

"The room that's in front and you're done" He said walking away.

Sasha wondered why had she blushed, that the corporal had touched didn't mean anything, he was only teaching her something. But then, what meant in reality what Hanji had said.

Carrying a bucket and a broom she entered to the last room she had to clean. She sighed when she saw that Ymir and Christa had already started cleaning it.

"Don't just stand there" Ymir yelled at her "Do something!" Sasha loved the warm greetings she always got from Ymir.

"Oh, Sure" She started to clean the only window in the room. Everyone seemed so concentrated on cleaning; they already wanted to finish.

"Hey" She interrupted the silence "Has the corporal come to check your cleaning a lot of times?" She wasn't sure why she was asking this.

"Not really" Christa answered "Just one time" She kept cleaning the furniture.

"Really?" Sasha sounded more surprised than she meant to.

"Why?" Christa asked.

"Well, he went to my room a lot of times"

"Because we're not as useless as you" Ymir laughed.

"Ymir" Christa hit her with her elbow.

"He did, certainly, told me that I wasn't the best at cleaning, though, have you ever talked to him?" She turned around the face them.

For Sasha it was strange that a superior would pay such attention to her. Sure, she wasn't the kind of girl that would go unnoticed, but, it was strange when a person like the corporal had little chats with her. Naturally she wanted to know if she was the only. _Just because I'm curious, nothing more, right?_

"What do you mean?" Christa had stopped cleaning at her friend's question.

"You know" Sasha stopped cleaning too "Talked to him, have a little chit-chat" She raised her eyebrows.

"Just a Good Morning that's replied with a nod" Christa replied.

"Why?" Ymir stopped cleaning as well "Have you?"

"No" She lied without knowing why.

"C'mon" Ymir dropped her broom "You expect us to believe you?"

"What?!" Sasha laughed "I haven't talked to the corporal, I swear"

"C'mon Sasha" Christa smiled "Tell us"

"Tell you what?"

"What's going on between the corporal and you?" She raised an eyebrow in a _suggestive_ way.

"What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what we mean" They started to get near her.

"Fine then" Although she was excited to tell her friends she rolled her eyes "But it's nothing, really"

"Whatever" Ymir sounded a bit desperate.

"How do exactly tell this?" She scratched her chin and sat on the floor " I've spoken a bit with the corporal, but, it's kind of strange. I mean, we've talked about sort of personal stuff. It's not like I know him but I feel that I do, you get me?" She was hoping they would.

"Is that it?" Ymir asked faking a yawn.

"Do you have any feelings for the corporal?" Christa asked, ignoring Ymir's response.

"What?!" Sasha laughed "No, of course not"

Sasha had never really thought about it. It hadn't crossed her mind. The fact of her having feelings for him seemed absurd, impossible, time-wasting. She knew she'd be a fool if she had any because, it was the corporal who they were talking about. It was true, she liked the attention the corporal pay to her, she liked that he actually talked to her and, she felt a strange, warm sensation when he touched her hand.

"I do like the attention he gives to me" She confessed.

"Just that?"

"Yes" She tried to convince herself "Why?"

"Well " Christa sat on the bed "I know for sure that I wouldn't behave like you if the corporal talked to me" She was looking directly at Sasha's ayes.

"What do you mean?"

"That I wouldn't be wondering if I'm special for the corporal or not, if I get treated differently. All because I don't have any feelingd for him" _How did she know?_"I'd be honored, no doubt of that, but just that. I wouldn't give it a second thought"

"Yeah" Sasha said weakly "I guess you're right. Still I don't have any feelings for the corporal" She stood up.

* * *

"Are we finally done cleaning?" Hanji asked Levi, he just nodded "I thought so. Good thing we're finally eating"

After hours of cleaning, they were done. Every single room was clean. Now they were in a huge room ,with two tables, used as the dining room. He was seated on table along with Hanji and his squad members. He was sure that it was a coincidence that Sasha was seated on the other table, right on front of him. Though, he was sure she hadn't noticed him.

"Hanji" He looked at her "What do you think of that girl?" He said looking at Sasha.

"Who?"She knew that he was going to ask her that in just a matter of time "Braus?"

"Yes" He just wanted to know what she thought of her; he certainly didn't dislike her.

"I think she's a nice girl. She's funny, sometimes without even meaning it and she seems to be useful for the legion. I don't really know her and I already like her" It was true, she seemed fine for Levi.

"I see" He took a sip of his water.

"Why are you asking me?" She was hoping it was because of the reason she wanted.

"Because I wanted to know what you thought of her" He said nothing more.

"Could it be love" Hanji chanted.

"Are you serious?" He rolled his eyes "No, it isn't love"

"Then what is it?" She teased him.

"I'm not even sure" He shrugged "I just enjoy talking to her, I find her company quite enjoyable to be honest"

"And why's that?" She already knew that Levi sort of wanted to tell her this.

"I just feel that she doesn't see me as Lance corporal Levi, besides, she acts pretty natural whenever I'm with her. I enjoy that"

"Then be nice to her"

He was looking at her, when she finally saw that he was in front she waved at him and smiled, he just nodded.

* * *

**Thanks for reading.**


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